Currently, state of the art point-of-care devices for the analysis of blood exist. A disadvantage of these devices is their size which depends on the different components needed to perform blood analyses. In these devices, external pumps are part of the point-of-care device. In some devices, miniature scale pumps are used to propagate a sample through the fluidic channels of the device. The use of pumps increases the size and cost of the device which makes them less suitable for usage as a disposable device. Current disposable devices are typically inserted in expensive read-out instruments; with many non-disposable different electronic or optical components to read out the biochemical reactions taking place in the disposable. Another disadvantage of state of the art point-of-care devices is their cost to fabricate.
Other state of the art devices are lateral flow test strips. These test strips are usually fabricated from cellulose which does not allow a precise control of the flow of a fluid sample propagating through the test strips. This narrows the scope of application of these devices.
There is generally a need for a low-cost, easy to use, disposable, and/or compact device for the fully integrated analysis of a fluid sample.